(What) God Be With You (?)

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If you have ever visited an Eastern Orthodox church, you have seen an unfamiliar picture of God, the Bible, and the world presented before your eyes. Instead of plain white walls, patterned after stoic German congregations, their walls are cluttered with pictures. You might almost feel that all the angels and saints are elbowing each other for space. They paint the picture of salvation on three levels.

On the lowest level – ground level, you might say – is Christ with His apostles celebrating the Holy Communion, John the Baptist baptizing, and other such scenes. This is the level on which we, the Church, now live. Our religious life, our life together as Christians, reaches its apex in embracing Christ within the Divine Service. He who lived and ate with His disciples now lives and eats with you in the Supper of His Body and Blood. The Blessed Sacrament is for us a living icon, the visible Word.

On the second level, you might see depictions of stories you know from the Bible. Mary the Mother of God, John the Baptist, the prophets, the apostles, a wide array of saints and martyrs – all these might be displayed on the walls of the church for the faithful to worship under their gaze. These are they who have suffered for the sake of the faith, suffering and dying to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They stand worshiping the crucified Christ, who is placed right in the middle of that sacred history. Within that holy story our salvation was won.

On the third level, the highest heights of the church, you see Christ, the Pantocrator, – the Creator of All – enthroned as the Almighty God in the unity of the Father and the Holy Spirit, ruling all things. Around the head of Christ is a circular nimbus, signifying that He is the creating God and His right hand is lifted up in blessing. Suddenly, looking at the Pantocrator, we get a glimpse of what it means that “He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God the Father.” You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the God who judges all men, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect in the blood of the Lamb.

Before the throne of God and in the magnificence of heaven our mortality is dissolved into immortality and our disintegrating bodies are reassembled into Christ's resurrected body. In the divine presence of the Triune God, we come to realize that everything that we experience is transitory, passing away, ultimately without meaning on its own.

Christ is all in all. He fills all things in heaven and on earth. Here, in the heavenly Jerusalem the praise of the Holy Trinity – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is continually chanted. Angels cover their faces. The twelve apostles and twenty-four elders fall prostrate. The very foundations of heaven and earth shake at the Name of God. In such magnificence and glory, God occupies all our thoughts. We are transported into the presence of the Holy Trinity and undivided Unity. We can say, with Peter, “Lord, it is good to be here.”

It is indeed good to be here, in the Lord's house, so that you may hear the Word of the Lord and come into His presence with thanksgiving. It is good that you are here, so that you may lay down your burdens and rest under the yoke of Christ. Here, you come before the throne of God and present yourself empty, foolish, sinful, impoverished, starving, and needy. And here the Creator of the Universe comes to you and fills you, makes you wise unto salvation, bestows upon you the riches of His kingdom, feeds you with His Body and Blood, and clothes you in white.

On this day – the Feast of the Holy Trinity – and throughout the Trinity season, we commemorate the common faith of all Christians: that the true God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that each divine Person is equal in Godhead, power, and might. This divine community is above any community or communion we can experience. Nevertheless, we confess not three Gods but one God. Such faith is to believed, not explained. It has survived empires, persecution from its enemies, and neglect from its members. It has dwindled and waned, only to be revived and rekindled in the hearts of the faithful.

Throughout the world, there is only one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, which is preserved by the One God of heaven, and which preserves the Holy Things, wrapped in ancient liturgies and divine garments. This Church hears the Scriptures read, is joined together in one Baptism for the remission of sins, celebrates one Supper of Christ's Body and Blood, and confesses one faith in the undivided and Holy Trinity. The Church is one, because her Head and her God is One.

This feast that we celebrate today is a strange one in the Church calendar. It is the only feast to commemorate not an event or a person, but a doctrine, as it were. To speak about God as God is strange on the Church's tongue.

One might say that is because we, the members of the Church, are somewhat utilitarian. Religion must “do” something for you. God is important because He can do something for you. Who and what God is in Himself is less important than what He is doing in and for you. Hence, so many congregations place such an emphasis on personal testimonies of faith and on feeling the Spirit move in the worship service. Religion is not so much about becoming involved, or rather absorbed, into the life of God, but about God having meaning in your life only if He can help you do what you want to do. It is about God being in you, not you being in Christ.

You like to hear a preacher say something you can put to use in your marriage, in your family, in your daily work, or in dealing with sickness and suffering. Nothing is more flattering than to be the center of the sermon. You would like to hear about dear Dad on Father's Day, or children on Christmas. You relish being the subject of the sermon, when it means that you go home with something useful to file away in your head.

It is a classic American temptation to make religion all about me. What I want, what I feel, what I think, what I need – “I” become the driving force in the Church's worship, preaching, and prayers. Doctrine and confession are great, in service to satisfying the needs you feel, the desires you yearn to express, the burning in your bosom or the itching of your ears.

But today is not about usefulness. Today is about reality. Today is about the transcendent reality of the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity. Today is about the One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today is about the majesty of the immortal, invisible, unknowable God who has chosen to make Himself known to you.

Hence today's Gospel lesson. Today's Gospel is the “seat of doctrine” for the Holy Trinity, as well as for Holy Baptism. Jesus gives the command to His disciples: “As you go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Jesus commands His Church to make disciples. How? By baptizing them. Why? “That they may be one,” as Jesus said to you a few weeks ago.

You enter into the mystery of the divine reality in the waters of Holy Baptism. You are baptized into Christ, into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That is not just a label slapped on your back, but a change of your very being, from a slave to sin into a child of God. You know God because you are in Christ.

Today is a day that irks the old Adam in each of us. For today is not about you. Today is not about your needs, wants, or desires. Today is not about how you feel or what you think. Today is not about whether you like your pastor or care what he has to say. Today is about confessing the Holy Trinity in all His glorious mystery and magnificence. Today is about putting aside the self-absorption that characterizes original sin, and about putting on Christ, who took on your sin so that you might take on His immortal, incorruptible life.

God is God. He is One in Godhead, might, and glory, indivisible in majesty. He is Three Persons, distinct in relationship, in working, and in identity. “Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity.” Blessed, indeed, be the God who has revealed Himself and who has carved His Triune Name upon your forehead and upon your heart, marking you as His own child.

Some might accuse a pastor who regularly preaches on such things of being a doctrinnaire, or some stuffed-shirt academic who does not connect with his people. The Holy Trinity is a divisive subject, since the pastor says that you must confess what the Creeds say about God. The sermon is not about you, but about something way over your head, with no take-home points to live a better life. What good is this to you? Such a pastor might be called a good teacher, but a lousy preacher, because this sort of preaching does not tickle the fancy of the guy in the pew.

Well, the Holy Trinity does not exist to tickle your fancy. He exists to create all things, redeem all things, forgive all sins, and reconcile all men to Himself. The sermon does not exist to give you steps for better living, or shore up your rocky marriage, or give you well-heeled children. The sermon does not exist to make you feel special or loved, or what have you. This sermon is preached to proclaim to you that the Holy Trinity, revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, loves you and has taken on your humanity, and given you the eternal life of God.

This sermon is not about you – it is about Christ for you. It is about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who baptized you into the divine Name and made you a child of God, forgiving you all your sins and placing you into the holy Church for safe-keeping. It is about the Son of God who took manhood into God, becoming incarnate, being made man for you and for your salvation, the Son of Man who died your death and rose again. It is about the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who comes to you to breathe the Breath of Life into you and stand you on your feet as children of God, sons of the King, holy and perfect before the eternal Judge.

You cannot understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Do not even try; if you do, you will invariably fall into one of the many heresies condemned long ago. Rather, simply meditate upon the Holy Trinity – the mysterious glory that the unknowable, inaccessible God has hidden Himself in plain sight, in the flesh of Jesus Christ. And He now delivers Himself to you here, in this place, over and over again. He hides in the preaching of His divine Word, which kills sinners and makes saints alive. He hides in the waters of Holy Baptism, where He sunders from the number of the unbelieving and joins His children to Himself and one to another. He hides in the Holy Absolution, where the mouth of a poor, sinful man pours forth divine speech, forgiving your sins. He hides Himself in the bread and wine, so that you who are many may become one, just as He is One, so that you who are scattered may be gathered at one table, so that you who are ungodly may be made holy and righteous.

Your pastor cares about you. That is why you are not hearing a sermon on XYZ steps to be a better father (this being Father's Day and all). That is why you are not hearing a pep-talk on living the Christian life. That is why you are hearing that the Holy Trinity is revealed today in your hearing, as your sins are forgiven in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.